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Jaime & Ben Stein
Melanie McMillan
Ben and Jaime Stein’s love
story began in 1992, when the two
were students at Covington High
School in Louisiana. Ben, a senior,
and Jaime, a sophomore, were
introduced by a mutual friend and
soon began dating. Both ended up
at William Carey College, where
Ben played baseball and Jaime
played softball.
The couple married in 1997 and
made their home in Hattiesburg.
A short two years later, Jaime was
presented with a job opportunity
which would require the Steins to
relocate to the Jackson area. Jaime
accepted the position as an
accountant with Arthur Anderson
and the two moved to Rankin
County where Ben began teaching
and coaching at Northwest Rankin
High School.
Jaime and Ben settled into their
new hometown and like many
young couples, stayed busy with
their respective careers. The family
grew with the arrival of daughter
Kayley and son Bryce, and juggling
work and household responsibilities
was more difficult. “Those days
were hard without family close by,”
says Ben. “Tax season for Jaime
coincided with baseball season
for me and it wasn’t easy trying
to balance it all, but we always
supported each other and worked
it out.”
In 2008, Ben took on a new role
as assistant principal at Northwest
Rankin High School, and in 2014
he became the head principal.
Jaime is the vice president for
corporate tax at C-Spire, where
she’s worked for eight years.
Although their careers keep them
busy, family is their top priority.
“We never missed our children’s
events,” says Jaime, “although
sometimes it meant going in
separate directions with each
child.” Their daughter Kayley, a
teacher at Pisgah Elementary, is
married to Austin Bennett and
expecting their first child, a boy, in
March. Son Bryce is a student at
South Georgia Technical College,
where he is training to be a diesel
mechanic.
Like most couples who have
been married for many years,
there have been good times as well
as difficult times for Jaime and
Ben. Several years ago, what
started as a seemingly innocuous
headache for Ben became a very
scary situation for the couple.
“I had a headache at work one
morning and didn’t think much
of it, but I ended up leaving early
that day because it got more
intense, and nothing was helping.”
The pain continued to increase
throughout the night and Ben had
a CT scan the following day. He
went home to await the results,
6 • JANUARY 2022